Friday, June 11, 2010

Post wedding survey

Liz, because she is superwoman and awesome, took the time to fill out my post wedding survey. I LOVE it when clients do this for me!

Q. What was the best part of your wedding day?

A. Seeing everything come together, just like I had hoped it would, after 8 months of planning- it felt amazing!

Q. What do you feel was totally unnecessary?

A. I spent a lot of time dwelling on the things that I wasn’t doing. I worried that the wedding would be incomplete without the things that didn’t fit in our budget like letterpress invitations, hand calligraphy, or an expensive designer dress (mine was J.Crew!). I worried that I would later regret not doing the things that I had chosen to skip, like a guestbook, or making a playlist for our DJ. In the end, everything turned out wonderfully and nobody (even me) noticed any of the things we didn’t have- only the things we did have.

Q. What would you change, if anything?

A. I would have rented patio heaters!! It got really cold during our cocktail hour, which was outdoors, and we had to cut it short by about 15 mins. to move inside. Also, during the reception, it would have been nice for people to have someplace to go get away from the loud music on the dance floor so they could talk and visit.

Q. What was unexpected that you loved?

A. We had a string trio play for the ceremony and cocktail hour. I had been on the fence about it but Ryan was really excited at the idea of having live music, so we went for it and it was a great decision. The live music added such energy and emotion to the ceremony- I started to tear up as soon as they started playing our processional song, “La Vie en Rose.”

Q. What are your fondest memories of your wedding day?

A. My walk down the aisle with my parents- my mom is notorious for crying at the drop of a hat, and my dad had been emotional all day, so I was sure one of them would be the first to tear up, but it was ME! In the pictures the three of us are laughing through our tears as we walk down the aisle.

I also loved the 15 minutes of privacy that Ryan and I took after the ceremony. It really gave us a chance to soak in what we had just done, and it was one of the only times we had any time alone together the whole day. We couldn’t stop smiling at each other and looking at our rings- we were in shock! It was nice to have a little calm time before we got swept up in the reception.

Q. Is there anything you wish you had spent more time or money on?

A. Breaking in my shoes!

Q. Is there anything you wish you had spent less time or money on?

A. Honestly, budget-wise I felt like I did pretty well. I got good deals from most of our vendors and shopped around for good prices on other things. All in all, I felt like we got a lot of bang for our buck, as it were. Of course, there were a few abandoned DIY projects and I now have 150 extra customized cocktail napkins, but those were pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.

Q. Were there any unexpected surprises or issues?

A. A lot of the guests we invited weren’t able to make it, and that was really hard. I had expected that to some extent, but I was really surprised by how many people couldn’t come. Some of those were people who we had really hoped could make it, and it was very disappointing to hear that they wouldn’t be there. It did take a little while to be OK with it and get back to being excited about the wedding and the people who would be there, but I got there eventually. We’re also planning a second reception for our East Coast friends and family who couldn’t make the trip out to L.A., and the idea that we’ll get to celebrate with them too really helped with the disappointment.

Q. What's your number #1 tip for future engaged couples?

A. Be true to yourselves. Know what you want out of your wedding experience, and always remember not just why you are getting married, but why you are having a wedding, because the two are not at all the same.

Oh- and hire a wedding coordinator! Seriously, knowing that Amber was there let me really relax and enjoy the day without worrying.

Q. How did you feel after the wedding?

A. Relieved and happy and overwhelmed all at the same time! I kept thinking I should be working on my to-do list, then remembering the wedding was over and we were married.